SKT Telecom T1 won its third League of Legends world championship

By
Mike Denison

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October 30, 2016 10:37 AM EDT

SKT Telecom T1 was crowned the world champion of League of Legends for the third time in the past four years, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships in the e-sports' six year history.

SKT beat Samsung Galaxy 3-2 in a best-of-five. SKT won the first two games before Samsung mounted a heroic comeback effort, marking the first time SKT needed all five games to win a title.

Here's the final moments of their victory in the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

SKT's Lee Sang-hyeok, known internationally as "Faker," was named the Most Valuable Player. Faker is widely regarded as the best League player in the world, and this marked his third championship. His teammate Bae Seong-ung, known as "Benji," also earned his third title.

The 2016 world championships were heralded as the year of "closing the gap," referring the skill gap between Korean teams and Western teams, but that dream fizzled quickly. For the past four years, a Korean team won it all. In the past two years, a Korean team also finished second.

Here's the team gathered around the championship trophy, the Summoner's Cup.

In addition to the trophy, SKT will take home 40 percent of the prize pool. By early October, the pool was more than $5 million. Players' purchases within League of Legends (a free-to-play game with micro-transactions) will add to the pool until Nov. 6, so that number is expected to rise.